Interesting article about Garmin

I just wish that the screen was bigger on both units since I have gotten used to the larger screens in both my car and my truck. The car has Navi but the truck doesn’t so I use my phone in the truck. I will use my Garmin in areas that have no phone reception such as Death Valley and Yellowstone NP. No phone reception in either of those places the best that I can remember. I was out there a few years ago and no phone reception whatsoever. That’s where the Garmin’s come through!

An interesting article, thanks for posting.

In addition to the possibility of "pulling the plug" on in dash nav systems, some car makers charge for map updates. GM charges $450/yr for my 3 GM vehicles. That's the main reason I stick with my Garmins.

GM also requires an OnStar subscription to continue to use their nav systems. The "plug" was pulled on my 2021 Buick last year and will do the same on my other two vehicles after the warranty period expires.

Rumor has it, GM will also require a monthly payment to use other advance features like super cruise and some self driving options starting in 2027.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/07/22/2010225/gm-is-quiet...

And GM plans to discontinue CarPlay and Android Auto on all vehicles.

https://gmauthority.com/blog/2025/10/gm-to-end-apple-carplay...

That should help them lock you into these expensive plans, unless you like looking at a blank screen as you drive. But since Google is involved, I guess you will still be able to get Google Maps. But I have to believe it won't be free. I guess the dealers will just roll it into the car loan, so people aren't especially aware of the actual cost.

From the Garmin article:

"If you're concerned about a smartphone tracking your every move, this might be a good alternative."

If you *are* the kind of person who is concerned about privacy and tracking, you might also want to look at Garmin's own policy and possibly change some settings on your device, since IIRC (have not looked recently myself) Garmin reserves the right to download your track and other data while your GPS is connected during an update. This is something we discussed over at GPSReview "back in the day"....

Actually several years ago GM starting selling my Corvette detailed driving telemetry to 3rd party brokers who then sell it to insurance companies. Done without my consent.

I contacted the brokers demanding my data be deleted as GM had stolen it without permission. Also I demanded it be deleted because the entire telemetry data was attributed to me with no evidence of who the driver was

Because of blowback GM was forced to stop their practices but only for a few years.

GM has no credibility when it comes to stealing customer data same as Google does.

I can see one of these Bluetooth screens in my future IF I stay with GM.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FF45J2B7/?coliid=IABZMLPK6L7N5&c...

It is great that Garmin supports its older GPS devices, unlike Apple, which does not so you have to go out and buy new devices. I havent used in yet, but Garmin has a phone app that you are supposed to use with the GPS. It would be great if the phone app was able to be used on Android Auto and project the GPS/app map on the car screen. I use my GPS but the screen is small. My car has a 12 inch care screen and it would be easier to follow the map on it as my GPS is on my console and i have to look down.

I think we could find devices from both companies that have and have not received long-term updates. Personally, my Apple devices are still enjoying long, supported lives. My almost 6-year-old iPhone 12 is still supported and is expected to be for another year, with a couple more years of security updates after that. I will just keep using it until then, unless it dies. No complaints there, many people get new phones every year.

Primary computer is still a 2018 hex i7/64gb/2tb Intel Mac Mini, which is also heavily used as a Windows 10 virtual machine. No new operating systems for that but it should continue getting security updates for another year. Again, that's a pretty long run for a computer, I think it's already the longest I've used the same machine.

Recently replaced my 2018 iPad with an m4 iPad Pro (which has a much brighter screen for car usage) but the 2018 still works fine and does pretty much everything I need. Battery is very weak though, it only runs for an hour or two, but still fine when plugged in. Again, I think I got a pretty good run from that.

Then I have two Apple TV HDs. They have reached their end of support this year, but still work fine so I'll probably get another year before things start breaking. Not bad for a device that was introduced in 2015.

Garmin.... don't know, don't really care anymore since I no longer use any of those, but I still have a "gps museum" to show for all that money.

https://stephencreek.com/gps/gps_relics.jpg

In spite of having Google and Apple maps available I still have my Garmin permanently on my dash faithfully showing what's ahead, where I am and with the Garmin Drive app, traffic. I can think of a few features that could work better... but happy with what I have and it will be a sad day if Garmin gives up totally on it's automotive line.

All comments above still forget about Tesla don't have any of Carplay or else
Most of new cars do want you to pay subscriptions such as Apps in apple or android. Funny thing is I did pay premium apps without ads, then new iOS updating, you need to update the app version, then new version asking you to pay subscription with following many ads as your last premium or lifetime apps not valid for new version. This is really more B.S. than anything else.
Owned many Garmin devices since 2 decades, it's so weird the old one always better than new smartdrive 76 or else by finding precise addresses while the new 76 or 86 just finding behind the stores or addresses. Besides, the old ones are just too slow compared to new one, but daily still love new one as it gets signals faster around density of cities or around with new features.
No matter how Garmin updating new map such as now it's 2027.20, my one way road still show 2 way, except google map shows it right!
Since 2 years, Garmin still do not release any new models yet, then just waiting and praying for it. Good day, folks!

I don't have a Tesla, never rode in one or even looked closely at one. But they have that big "iPad" and (AFAIK) you are not restricted as to what you can do on it. So, I think you could use any web based mapping application. In fact, on another site somebody posted a photo of them using boydsmaps while driving their Tesla.

Carplay doesn't allow the use of web apps, I don't think Android auto does either.... however, was reading an article somewhere that you actually can access websites on Android Auto, but only while the vehicle is parked, evidently.

Tesla has subscription by years defined and they guessing you need to change new car after several years

It is true that for years Teslas have offered a web browser. But that screen, while big for a car, is not big for a PC, and on the older Teslas the CPU that supported browsing was so modest in capabiity that most modern web sites did not work very well.

I have hardly ever browsed on our Teslas, and don't think I've tried a navigation site. Just for fun, I should probably try using Google Maps on it.

But, as to the main thread discussion, the only subscription fee I pay on my Tesla is $100/year for "premium connectivity" which gets me the option to see overhead photography for my maps when I want, and gets me map display of current traffic conditions. Neither is essential, and I like the price.

I am totally satisfied with the choices of apple maps, Google Maps and waze

A long time ago Garmin did have an APP and it was not bad. Then they killed it.

Garmin made something called "MobilePC" which basically turned a laptop into a giant Nuvi type GPS. I bought a copy of it and installed it on a (horrible) HP Windows 7 touchscreen tablet. But the software was actually pretty nice, with more options than the Nuvi series and more like the older streetpilots which evolved from Garmin's handhelds. Of course, they discontinued that.

Before that, they had a simpler program called nRoute which was sort of like GPS-enabled version of Mapsource. I used that for awhile too.

But later, they introduced an IOS app (seems to me there was also an Android version, but not certain) called "StreetPilot". It was pretty good and very similar to the Nuvi series. However - classic Garmin - they intentionally crippled it by not allowing you to import/export any data. You couldn't add your own waypoints, POI or anything. This was clearly an artificial limitation done for marketing reasons, in classic Garmin style. You also couldn't add any other maps to it.

They had multiple versions for different regions though. I went to stay with a friend in the EU and also bought a copy with City Navigator EU installed. This was kind of ridiculous, to have two separate apps that were identical except for the map. But (of course), twice the money for Garmin.

And after just a few years, Garmin pulled the plug on the whole thing and I was left with two apps that no longer worked at all. Thanks Garmin. It seemed like someone in their marketing dept told them they had better pull those apps because they were impacting sales of the dedicated devices. I suppose - if we want to be charitable - we might say it was because they didn't want to spend the resources developing separate smartphone apps. But I would question that. A best-of-breed Garmin app would be hard to beat. But cripple-ware just ends up being frustrating. And having the plug pulled on $200 of apps I only bought a couple years ago did not improve my opinion of Garmin, and how they treat their customers...

Speaking of resources, just have a gander at the Garmin website. The vast amount of "things" they produce is really amazing, especially the number of watches.

It's no wonder their resources are spread so thin. The two-year lifespan of devices and their support is a huge drawback for Garmin devices, especially their watches.

Their main priority (as far as bug-free operation) seems to be the aviation devices (as to be expected). All others take back seat in the cockpit as far as support resources go.

That is some GPS collection. I thought I had a lot with 3 old Garmins. I don't agree with you on Apple though - I had two IPod Nanos and Apple stopped updating them and I had to give up on using them. I liked them b/c they wer small and were easy to carry while walking/exercising and the batteries did not require frequent recharging. Now I use my phone for books on tape and music but it is not the same.

That is some GPS collection. I thought I had a lot with 3 old Garmins. I don't agree with you on Apple though - I had two IPod Nanos and Apple stopped updating them and I had to give up on using them. I liked them b/c they wer small and were easy to carry while walking/exercising and the batteries did not require frequent recharging. Now I use my phone for books on tape and music but it is not the same.

Saw a reddit post on r/anticonsumption about the same topic. Refreshing to see for a lot of people in an age of subscriptions!

The app that I miss is the HD Mechanic Route (I think it was called). Required a dongle to connect to the OCDII port where it gave a reasonable amount of real time info about your vehicle.

Thanks.

Thanks for posting